Anyone buy a new Apple desktop computer recently? What do you think?
 

I'll be in the market soon for a new desktop and may be making the switch to Apple from PC. Im tired of waiting for MS Vista and the mega hardware requirements to run it. I'll be doing videos, photos, music, excel, word, and some gaming. Looking to spend approx $1500. Thoughts?

An iMac will be plenty for you, although Macs aren't known for their gaming. Online gaming should be fine, though.

I have 6 Intel-duo Mac Mini's. Five at the office, one at home. Quite simply the greatest computers I have ever owned. Prepare to lose yourself for a while. You will be overwhelmed by the elegance of the operating system. The iLife software suite that comes with all new Macs is fantastic. I still get Excel spreadsheets and Word documents from my less "evolved" colleagues, so I bought Microsoft office for Mac OSX. It works seamlessly.

I honestly don't think it matters which machine you get as long as you can configure it to your needs. Welcome aboard!

You can get a 24 inch iMac Intel box for 1999. The geforce 7300 card it comes with will let you do gaming.

First time I saw this particular box in person I had to run from the store or I would have bought one and I have absolutely zero need for another computer right now.

Go to the store and take alook. Bring your checkbook.

Scott

I have a Mac mini. Been using a Mac at home for 15 years. PC at work. You use a PC because you have to. You use a Mac because it's fun. Had my Mini now for 2 years and NO PROBLEMS EVER. Welcome to the other side. You won't go back.

How do you decide which Mac Mini to purchase as far as ram or hard drive space? I've always just buught the most I could afford but have probably overspent unecessarily.

I was a staunch Windows guy since I graduated highschool. I made the switch to Apple 5 years ago. I still have and use my 5 year old dual 1 GHz G4 PowerMac and recently purchased a brand new 2.16 GHz Intel Duo core 17" Macbook Pro. Both running OS X. These things are awesome! Make the switch you will not regret it. BTW...my Macbook feels quicker than my dual g4 system - just an interesting comparison.

If you need to stay within a certain budget I would sacrifice CPU speed for more memory. HD can always be expanded via external drives. So get the most RAM you can afford then look at upgrading your CPU.

I recently bought a 24" iMac, which is my latest in a long line starting from my Mac Plus back in '86. An iMac will do everything you say you're interested in. Regarding Excel and Word, you can get MS Office for the Mac, or download the freeware "NeoOffice" which is compatible with .doc and .xls files. As far as games, there aren't as many on the Mac, but you can boot into Windows (using your own copy of Windows) and run any game or other Windows program you want. You won't regret you switched!

Minis are inexpensive. Buy the best one and upgrade the ram. I'm running:

Machine Name: Mac mini
Machine Model: PowerMac10,1
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (1.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.25 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 512 MB
Bus Speed: 167 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.8.9f4

I added an external DVD burner later. Get a nice flat screen to go with it. You can get a nice refurbished one at the Mac store if you are on a budget. (who isn't!)

Machine Name: Mac mini
Machine Model: Macmini1,1
Processor Name: Intel Core Duo
Processor Speed: 1.66 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per processor): 2 MB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz

Hey Targa, doesn't your Mac Mini come with a superdrive standard?

MAT****A DVD-R UJ-846:

Firmware Revision: FM3J
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW, +R, +RW, +R DL
Burn Underrun Protection CD: Yes
Burn Underrun Protection DVD: Yes
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO

+1. I added 1 gig of RAM to my Mac Mini and it works much better than with the 256 megs it shipped with. Even my previously PC-only wife is now trying to convince relatives to buy a Mac.

Mike

Moses, no I got cheap as I only wanted to spend $500 at the time so mine has a CDR only.

I bought an iMac about 3 months ago. Here is my personal review:

Pros:

Much more intuitive interface. The computer does a good job of figuring out what you want to do. There have only been a handful of times where I tried to drag a file or do something with the mouse where the computer rejected the idea.

Easier browsing on the web. I use Firefox (which is also available for the PC) and I love it. Much better than IE or Netscape. The computer can tell what does and doesn't need to be downloaded, pop-ups are automatically blocked, etc.

Less viruses. You don't have to install anti-virus software (although you can). I haven't yet and I haven't heard a peep out of the iMac.

Easier photos/movies/music. This is really where there is a big difference to me. Photos just pop up, you don't have to worry about what format they are, etc. Just click em.

Much slimmer footprint. The iMac is all in one. No tower for the CPU plus monitor plus cords, etc. It's all in one unit which is very slim and classy looking. I plan to get the wireless keyboard and mouse in the next year or so, then the only wires on my desktop will be a power cord.

Wireless networking is SUPER easy. iMac comes with a wireless card installed. I went out, bought a wireless router and plugged it into my cable modem. Turned on the iMac, it detected the network and asked me if I wanted to join. I click yes and it set itself up. Presto!! Wireless network. I plug the printer into the router and the iMac detected it, asked me if I wanted to use the printer. I click yes and PRESTO, I am using the printer on the network. Amazingly easy after the years of trying to setup PC networks...

Cons:

There really are only a few:

Price. The iMac is more expensive than a comparable PC, especially if you know how to build your own PC like I do. I probably spent an extra $750 or so on the iMac vs if I built a new PC to similar specs.

Incompatibility with windows media. Maybe I just haven't figured it out yet, but my iMac won't play .wmv files. That becomes a pain when you want to look at some video on the net. Probably there is some download you can get, I just haven't found it yet.

Less games. There are less titles for the Mac, there is a windows emulator you can buy that will allow you to install XP on the system. I decided not to, since I didn't want to bring the bugs of XP into my Mac. So, I just don't play games on the computer anymore. I bought an XBOX 360 and play that. Hah.

Bottom line, I really like my iMac and will probably stay with Mac from here on out.

Nathans_Dad, to play wmv install microsoft media player for mac:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download/AllDownloads.aspx?displang=en&qstechnology=

See? I figured there was a download I was missing...

thanks!

You could get into a MacBook laptop for under $1500. They are pretty much just as fast as the MacBookPro's, just a little smaller, I really like them.

There is also "flipformac" a free download.

Lifetime PC user. Switched home and office 2.5 years ago.
Using a PowerMac G5 at work now; gave others in the office G5 iMacs and G4 15" Powerbooks. Have 2 MacMinis at home (one the new Intel) and use a 12" Powerbook for the road.

Wireless networking and everything else are as easy as reported above - a real blessing and relief compared to the weird error codes and setup nightmares in Windows.

iMac should do all you want to do. Even the new Intel MacMini at home seems plenty fast for iPhoto, etc. InDesign and Photoshop are OK for casual use too - even though they aren't ready for Intel machines yet. And this is coming from someone used to Photoshop/InDesign/GoLive or Quark in a topline machine.....

It's a free plug-in for quicktime; flip4mac

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/wmcomponents.mspx

It's the green WMV icon in my dock.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1164732146.jpg

How did you put your dock in that post?